Nut-lock.



No. 7l6,986. Patented Dec. 30, I902.

' W. F. COLLIN8.

NUT LOCK.

(Application fllad July 9, 1902.) (liq Model.)

m k m\m WITNESSES: /NVENT0'R wwwm W A TTORNE rs.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W'ALLACE FIELD COLLINS, OF LEARNED, MISSISSIPPI.

NUT-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 716,986, datedDecember 30, 1902.

Application filed July 9,1902. Serial No. 114,935. (No model.)

To all whom it'nttty concern: 7

Be it known that I, WALLACE FIELD CoL- LINS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Learned, in the county of Hinds and State ofMississippi, have invented a new and useful Nut-Lock; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, andbxactdescription of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to improvements in nut-locks; and it has for itsobject to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient nut-lock adaptedto be readily applied to a rail-joint and capable of securely lockingthe nuts thereof and of preventing the same from being accidentallyunscrewed by the vibration of the rails.

The invention consists in the construction and novel arrangement ofparts hereinafter described and shown, and pointed out in the claimhereto appended.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, and in which likenumerals of reference designate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is anelevation of a nut-lock constructed in accordance with this inventionand shown applied to a rail-joint. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional viewof the same. Fig. 3 is a detailed perspective view of the end platehaving the pivoted locking-plate. Fig. 4 is a detailed perspective viewof one of the other plates.

Referring to the drawings, 1, 2, and 3 designate resilient nut-engagingplates designed to be arranged on the nuts at a rail-joint, as clearlyshown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and constructed of sheet metal or othersuitable material and provided at their engaging ends with angularrecesses 4, 5, and 6, conforming to the configuration of the nuts 7 ofthe bolts 8 and adapted to lock the same against rotation. The plates 1and 2 are constructed substantially the same and are provided at theirother ends with bolt-openings 9 and adapted to receive the bolts,whereby they are secured to the rail-joint. The bolts pass through thewebs 10 of the rails 11 and through opposite fish-plates 12 in the usualmanner,and the nu tengaging plates are located at the outer sides of therails. The plates 1 and 2 are provided between their ends with verticalbends 13, which ofiset the engaging ends of the plates 1 and 2 from thefish-plate and enable the recessed ends of the nut-locking plates toengage the nuts at points between the inner and outer faces of the same,whereby the nuts are effectually prevented from slipping over the saidplates 1 and 2. A plate or washer 14 is preferably interposed betweenone of the end nuts and the fish-plates to arrange the nuts in the sameplane, and the end plate 3 is provided with a bend 13, similar to thebends heretofore described, and it has an extension 15, to which issecured a pivoted lockingplate 17. The locking-plate 16 is secured atits outer end by a rivet 17 to the end plate 3, and it is provided atits other end with an angular recess 19, and it has an intermediate bend20, which offsets the recessed end from the end plate 3. Thenut-engaging plates are successively applied in the order numbered, andthey are pivotally mounted by means of the bolts and are adapted to bereadily swung upward out of engagement with the same 'when the nuts areloosened. The nuts are successively unscrewed, the pivoted lockingplatebeing swung upward first to release the adjacent end nut, and the latteris then 100sened to release the end plate 3. The operation is continueduntil allthe nuts are adjusted or removed, as desired.

It will be seen that the nut-lock is exceedingly simple and inexpensivein construction, that it is easily applied to a rail-joint, and that itis capable of securely locking the nuts thereof. It will also beapparent that the nut-lock may be removed without injuring it or thenuts.

What I claim is- In a nut-lock for rail-joints the combination with arail-joint having a ries of transverse bolts provided with nuts, f aseries of locking-plates pivoted to the rail- 'oint by the bolts andprovided with nut-re .eiving recesses and engaging the nuts of theadjacent bolts, one of the end plates being provided with an extension,and an end locking-plate pivoted to the extensionand engaging the nut ofthe adjacent end bolt, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereto affixed my signature in the presenceof two witnesses.

VVALLAOE FIELD COLLINS- Witnesses:

J. D. Rreenv, W. B. DICKSON.

